Apparatus for dispensing carbonated beverages



NOV. 3, 1953 A MENDONCA 2,657,952

APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING CARBONATE ID BEVERAGES Filed June 1?, 194a Patented Nov. 3, 1953 lswis, Men e Gh kfl wil 02 3 Blessing Company, Uhicagoflll.

"As halt-tion: June m, 194s; seasonings- 91 0, QQQlo in s (Cl. 299-407) This invention-1' relate generally-to e, novehap: paratus;for dispensing*carlumated beveragesz more particularlytozan improvedtntlz le on teuoet for discharging carbonated waiter into -beve age glasses or cups.

Although the nozzle; 0f this:- invention, 1 is, i51 tended primarily-ion the dispensingyofr aqfl wus solutions i of. carbon dioxide; it =a,- somay 'be'. em pleyed- 'for other'.:oarbonated-: bevenages; suohms beer cola or. phosphates whether-dispensed from; a barxor fountain: omen automatic: vending; mam chine.

I In? soda: fountains and: bars wherecarbonated; beverages are dispensed, a carbonatingraDDflr-a-M tus iscusually providedfiataal point-remote from the fountain which' serves to; prepare *2; solution. of carbon dioxidesgas: in' wetter. :This; solution is usually prepallfed lunderi aagasl'pr-essure 013 51): proximately seventy-:five-pounds per square inch and at a relatively-low temperature; on at atmuoh higheopressure at roomvtemperature. ThusagD-r proximately five-to fiveeiand I18- 'ha;1fVQ1ulfiBS0f carbon dioxide *are, dissolved in? each volume ofwater. This solution is themoonducted-through.

a, cooler to at draft}: arm or faucet: from which it is -clispensed;. At the; faucet,- the: pressurefo fcarbonated water is; usually somewhat: less than, he pre sux -in e ca bo atoe andi themperate ture is; approximately 4,0?FT;

Since the; beverages atthe,- nozzlewis; undeiz=a..l3o, he vel q i u la v ly h gh pressureend, when: drawnointo he; a s: ssunds atmo er c,- pr ssum e on: idfiseble pres ure r du tlon m ss: duneme; passage of-thelbgaveragethrough the nozz e-and ll q.-- he* less- The' h et p blem: s to; prev nt 35.

h beverage? had bee lix qh l-new: mm m t qsl yq r oediqsi .f d a so at e e x ensi e; PQIIIFQ erbbnat vs mu t be: emplw l o h wa n whi h l niees el oeat n o;

igi 't hq q a'i am; to; l l w matp tnhale o ai fir e ei dr ne t .w werbp a e a; low t mnerem e wil hmaeb me asetbe m tio arbon iosi hiFE f-i=- ?1;l'd

mug

5 the; sta dpo nt of-=imnnov the noz le.=-d s1n, of -thesd ra ft .ar m sojas topreducei thei mount-fl turbulence in the glass asit isl-fll-ledvsincegit;has; been, observed that'the; sweeten the turbulence,

the.s xex ev bpbvble fssasamforv-medz aind;bhe:highe1tthe gas loss.

Nozzles heretoiore; have usually been designed smash) ihavesanioutlet pontvvghlch directs asfilmz of carbonated waterlinzdially-out.. wardlmalong, the topwfi the-lhollow-wim thez'nozzle m wwhich top is gently cullvfedldownwmzdly into v.

which. passes into flie glass,

.I-heve gdiscoveredttha t this; is not the; best-solution to; the problem, :ior thei velocity of flow isl notreduce --s oon: enough."after dischargei from. the; port. W llem glassessarez filledx using such nozzles, the, velocity =01; the-carbonated; water. 'o P'QhQGRQi$ufiiQienfly5during1-th& timeirwh'en it is; irtthei nozzle "SQfbhat? excessive E'tunbulenoe; n he: slas ou s.

011a; object oi;- this-invention therefore-:15 to pgovigew novel form 0 nogzle; -in which -the.

velocity .2 of theystlcea m is; reduced; wpractically, ew mqusly i h he-pre sure; reduction and .e stag n -leaving the nozzle is els ys y qm 4 l? his? 1 mi ide as oz ww disch a saturated; fluiq undenz pressure-1 into 2% QPh 9 receivi g vesselwwh lel' mai' ew te l e c mmonhnothexgohject is to provides nozzle.- in which. the velocity of the stream is reduced, before-any. gflet; W lme her fisz qfifil r- 'isvto, rovide a; nozzle; which l i l w i h; vi's: f us orsnoiceh overr theo A furthex objeot is-tol provide! a nozzle shaving a cgs cha rge openmgvdirectinm a "film 01? fluid to the, lane well oi the; nozzle, fluid-3 striking -'&ub bi,a1-anele;=and the mouth,

etstfesmphaving arelatively chal g ese film of solutionydi i'ec-tlyl tosthel.

. 3 of the discharge opening being sufficiently close to the wall of the nozzle so that fluid flowing from the opening is not subjected to any substantial pressure drop until it strikes the inner wall of the nozzle and its flow is checked.

A further object of this invention is to provide a nozzle in which the fluid film leaving the discharge opening is varied in thickness according to the rate of fluid flow to maintain the velocity of discharge substantially constant.

Other and additional objects and advantages of this invention will of course present themselves to those familiar with the art on reading the following specification in conjunction with the drawing and the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is an elevation partially in section showing the construction of a typical draft arm provided with the nozzle of this invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged section showing the internal arrangement of the nozzle;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on line 33 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a side view partially in section of a draft arm similar to that shown in Fig. 1 but provided with a modified embodiment of the nozzle of this invention; and

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the angular relationship between the discharge opening and the inside wall of the nozzle.

A typical draft arm I described and claimed in Patent 2,056,986 for Draft Arm issued to Myron E. Steczynski on October 13, 1936, is partially illustrated in Figs. 1 and 4, and comprises a curving goose-neck II having an enlarged portion I2 at its upper end which houses the various valve elements. A conduit (not shown) within the goose-neck conducts carbonated water to a passage I3 in the head portion I2. This passage I3 is in communication with a passage I4 in a rotatable valve member I5 connected to a handle I6. When the handle is in the off position as shown in Fig. 4, the passage I4 is in the position shown in Fig. l and dead ended against a washer Il. However, when the handle I6 is moved either forwardly or backwardly from the off position, the passage I4 is connected to either one of the passages I8 and through openings (not shown) in the washer H. The passage 20 which is connected to passage I4 when the handle I6 is pushed to the left (as shown in Fig. 4) extends to an axial passage 2| in the lower part of the enlarged head portion I2. The passage I8 which is connected to the passage I4 when the handle I6 is moved to the right from the position shown in Fig. 4 is connected to an annular cutout portion 22 in the lower part of the body I2.

The nozzle 25 comprises a stem 26, a spray guide 21, a collar 28, and an enclosing body or a conical collector 30. The various elements of the nozzle 25 are assembled as shown in Fig. 2. The stem 26 is provided with a thread 3| at its upper end which is screwed into a matching thread in the passage 2|, the stem being screwed up tightly so that a shoulder 32 provided thereon lies against the bottom of the head portion I2 forming a seal between the two. The collar 28 and spray guide 21 are mounted on the stem 26 and held in position by a nut 33 which is screwed on to another thread 34 provided on the stem 26. The collar 28 is provided with a pair of annular recesses 35 and 36, a washer 31 being received in the groove 35 and forming a seal between the collar 28 and the body portion I2.

4 An annular recess 36 the same size as the annular recess 22 is provided in the body portion l2 and the two together form an annular passage which connects the passage l8 to a plurality of passages 40 which extend through the collar 28.

The lower ends of the passages 40 are in communication with a discharge passage 4| formed between the bottom surface 28s of the collar 28 and the upper surface 213 of the spray guide 2] when the two are assembled on the stem -26. The passage 4| is conical in shape, the opposite walls lying parallel to one another. The width of the passage 4| is determined and maintained by a shoulder-like projection 42 provided at the top end of the spray guide 21. By varying the height of the projection 42 it is possible to vary the width and the relative cross sectional area of the passage 4|.

The stem 26 is provided with an axial passage 43 whose upper portion is larger than the downstream end thereof. The end of the stem 23 is provided with a flat portion 44 on opposite sides providing a wrenching surface. The body or collector portion 30 of the nozzle 25 is preferably formed of plastic material and is threaded at its upper end for attachment to the body portion |2 of the draft arm I0. It is preferred to make the collector 30 of plastic material for it has been found that when glasses are struck against the plastic surface breakage is less likely to occur than if they strike against an unyielding surface. The inside wall of the collector 30 is frusto-conical in shape, the cone defined having an apex angle of approximately 25.

The operation of the draft arm I0 is as follows: When the handle I6 is in the ofi" position as shown in Fig. 4, the valve member I5 is in the position shown in Fig. 1 and neither of the passages IB and 20 is connected to the source of carbonated water. When the handle I6 is moved rearwardly, the valve member I5 is rotated so that the passage I4 is in communication with the passage 20 carbonated water then flowing through the passage 20 to the passage 2| and then the axial passage 43 in the stem 26. Thus a jet results which is useful when beverages such as ice cream sodas are prepared. The high velocity of the jet serves to break up masses of solids such as ice cream and causes mixing thereof. However, the water dispensed by the jet has a relatively small amount of carbon dioxide dissolved therein when it has come to rest in the glass for the high velocity and agitation causes excessive bubbles and loss of gas.

When the handle I6 is moved to the forward position, the valve member I5 is moved to such a position that the passage I4 therein is in communication with the passage I3 leading to the annular space 22. Carbonated water, therefore, flows through the passage I3 to the annular space 22 and down the plurality of passages 40 to the discharge passage 4|. The plurality of passages 40 are of such a diameter that their combined cross sectional area is approximately four times the flow area of the discharge passage 4| at the point where the passages 40 open into it. Thus no appreciable pressure drop occurs in the draft arm or nozzle prior to the passage of the carbonated water into the conical passage 4|. The flow area of the downstream portion of the conical passage 4| is approximately twice as great as that of the upstream portion. Hence, a slight pressure reduction occurs in this passage.

A film of carbonated water still under high pressure emerges from the passage 4| and withsome 5 out -chan'ging idirection strikesxthe'flnn'er walboi the collectoror nozzle: body 30. L The-angle: crinci'dence of this filmagainst the 'inner wallaor the body-30 is" quite great. H'en'ce, the film is refiectedbackwardlyl upon itself and also downwardlysince the angle-is less than a right angle.

-As the carbonated water passes farther' down the nozzle: its" velocity .is further decreased by the' frictionaldrag exerted by+the wallof :the body 30. Since the velocity is further: reduced; the stream area is widened somewhat. and, since the inner walls of the body 30 converge, a stream which substantially: in -the form of a7 column as indicated by broken linesxin:Fig. 4: emerges from "the mouth of the' nozzle li and ialls into:

the glass (not-shown). This stream. because its velocity was reduced while still underwpressureand beforeappreciable heattransfer to itcouldr occur, contains a relatively large amount of. rcarbon dioxide gas. a relatively low velocity when-it reaches the glass less turbulence results than v with the higher-"velocity streams produced by conventional nozzles and less. gasis lost.

Sinceno one can tell-actually what occurs within anozzle of thistype, theabove:.descr-iption of the operation is largely conjecture and is only included hereuforthe purpose of attempting to explain the improved performance observed. r

A draft armequippedwith the nozzle of this inventionxwas connected to a conventional carbonator operating at; approximately seventy-five poundspressureand at a temperature of approximately 40 F.-and;. g1asses-'of water were drawn by moving the handle IE to the full forward position until the glasswasfilled and then returningwit-to the .position. The glasses of water thus drawn were then: stirred for a period of several 'minutes, the: carbon dioxide evolved being collected and its volume-measured. The volumesof gas consistentlywere over four times the volume of water in the glass ranging from 4.1 to 4.3 volumes. A similartestperformed on conventional nozzles produced val-ues as high: as 3.9 volumes, but for themost part'the volumes were less.

Thus it will be seen that the nozzleofsthis invention produces a beverage havinga higher degree of carbonation than beverages dispensed by conventional nozzles. As has been stated this is important in that the carbonator: may be operated at alower pressure or higher temperature using the nozzle of my invention and still produce the same results as a carbonator at at higher markedly from the values given above. Similarlyythe angle of the inside wall of 'theno'zz'le body' 30 is preferably about I2-' with respect to the axis of the-stem 26 although this angle may bevaried from approximately 8to 16 without greatly affecting the result. The critical relat-i'on'ship, however, is the angle ofthe-passa'gell with respect to 'the inside'wall ofthe body 3O Since the stream flowing at.

erably'l'mving.a valueofi about 72. Mathis angle is too small, insuilicient braking effect on the velocity; btztherliquid results producing excessive agitationun theglass. @mthe other lma.nd,;ii!

angleis'too closet-to a lright :an'g-le, excessiveturbue lencezi'occurs within-rthenozzle' which causes; gas.

E to beiostifrdm the stream. while in the nozzle.

In Fig. 5 the angular relationship of the. pass. sage 4| to the inside wall of the-nomlebodyffl is shown; .1 The line iii-represents theiaxisxoi the stem tiwwhilerthevlmerlt represents the'slopeyof i UhEIJiDSldQVWfiH of thesnozzle' body 30. line makes aniangle or 12 -with-respect to theline -li- The line 41=representsnthe preferred angle ohthe passagev41|r while the1inesfl8 and. 50 represent them and minimum values of thefslope;

mm passage 4| '.'Ihusit-will be-seen-that-the angle of rthe passage 4| with .l'espectato I the sidewall maybe varied-from 'to-45inc1usive imam the horizontal or as shownon the diagra rrbe tween the-angle Btandthe angle 52 as made'with;

: theinside surface ofthe body 30.

Anothercritical relationship occurs in tlie:rela=- tivespacing between the end of the -discharge passage 4| and the innerwall of the'body I! this .space. is too great or too small the resulting drink is carbonated to a lesserdegree. 'Whema':

passage width in the passage M :01 approximately: .005 inch is provided the-distance betweenwthe' mouth of the passage 4| and the inside ohthe nozzle body 30 should be-betweenqkand %..inch

; for the best results. Thusnthe: distance between the nozzle body 30 and'the end of the discharge guide 21 away fromthe collar 28"is notlprovided.

Thus, when the valve I5: is inthe ofimposition, the spray guide 21a rests. against the. collar-r28. However, when the'valve|5' is moved open, .pres-.: sure of the-carbonated water in the passages causes the spray guide ZIa'to move-downwardly compressing the spring 53.

The size of the spring 53 is such that whenthe valve-151s open -the-spray guide 21a will assume a position such that the passage 4 la'isapproximately .005 inch in -width. I 'ItLthe' valve |5 is lessthan opened the spray guide lla moves downwardly to a lesser degree and the :passage 41a is less than1005inch in width. Thus by proper choloe of the spri-ng 53 it is'insured that-the liquid emergingfrom the passage Ila will-havesubstantially the same velocity regardless of'the rate oi flow as determined by the setting of the valve member I5, the cross sectional area 'of'the strearrr'being varied to compensate iorthedecreased rate of-flow. The modified embodiment 25a operates substantially the same as the preferred embodiment except for "the compensating factor described above.

* From the foregoing description it will be seen that a novel nozzle has been provided whichsub stantially imprcves the quality of the beverage dispensed, which produces a substantial saving in the amount of gas required for carbonation, and which increases the capacity of a given carbonator.

Various changes and modifications such as will present themselves to those familiar with the art may be made in either of the two embodiments disclosed without departing from the spirit of this invention whose scope is defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

i. In a nozzle the combination including a stem, a collar having a frusto-conical lower surface received on said stem, a passage through said collar, a spray guide having a frusto-conical upper surface received on said stem slightly spaced from said collar the space between the two forming a second passage which extends downwardly and outwardly from the first mentioned passage, and an enclosing body having an inner wall spaced from the mouth of said second passage, said inner wall extending substantially above the mouth of said second passage.

2. A draft arm nozzle comprising a body, a passage for liquid containing carbon dioxide in said body, a stem depending from said body, a downwardly converging collector surrounding said stem and supported below said body, a collar supported on said stem adjacent said body said collar having a plurality of passages therethrough in communication with said first mentioned passage, a second collar surrounding said stem below said first mentioned collar, a frusto-conical surface on the upper part of said second collar, a complementary diverging surface on the lower part of the first mentioned collar, and means on one of said collars for spacing said surfaces to form a narrow flow area between said surfaces, said flow area terminating adjacent the inner wall of said collector at a point spaced from the top end thereof.

3. A draft arm nozzle comprising a body, a passage for liquid containing carbon dioxide in said body, a stem supported by said body, a hollow collector having a frusto-conical inner wall surrounding said stem and supported below said body, a collar supported on said stern adjacent said body said collar having a plurality of passages therethrough in communication with said first mentioned passage, a second collar surrounding said stem below said first mentioned collar, a frusto-conical surface on the upper part of said second collar, a complementary diverging surface on the lower part of the first mentioned collar, a projection on one of said collars for spacing said surfaces to form a diverging passage between said surfaces, said diverging passage terminating adjacent the inner wall of said collector at a point spaced from the top end thereof.

4. A draft arm nozzle comprising a body, a passage for liquid containing carbon dioxide in said body, a stem threadably supported on said body, a downwardly converging collector surrounding said stem and supported by said body, a collar supported on said stem adjacent said body, an annular recess on the top of said collar in communication with said passage, a plurality of passages through said collar extending from said annular recess to the bottom thereof, a second collar surrounding said stem below said first mentioned collar, a frusto-conical surface on the upper part of said second collar, a complementar diverging surface on the lower part of the first mentioned collar, and means on one of said collars for spacing said surfaces to form a narrow flow area between said surfaces, said flow area terminating adjacent the inner wall of said collector at a point spaced from the top end thereof.

5. In a nozzle, the combination including a stem, a collar received on said stem, a passage through said collar, a spray guide received on said stem and supported in spaced relationship with said collar, the space between the two forming a second passage of less cross sectional area at its entrance than that of the outlet of said first passage, said second passage extending downwardly and outwardly from the first mentioned passage, and an enclosing body having an inner wall spaced from the mouth of said second passage and inclined at an angle between 57 and 87 to the line of flow from said second passage, said inner wall extending upwardly a substantial distance above the outlet end of said second passage.

6. In a nozzle, the combination including a stem, a collar received on said stem having a passage for carbonated water therethrough, a spray guide received on said stem below said collar, and a conical collector having an inner wall spaced from said collar, the lower surface of said collar and the upper surface of said spray guide being frusto-conical and slightly spaced apart to define a downwardly diverging passageway in communication with the first mentioned passage at its upper end, the lower end of the diverging passageway being spaced slightly from the inner wall of said collector and said inner wall extending upwardly a substantial distance beyond the lower end of said diverging passageway.

7. A draft arm nozzle comprising a body, a passage for liquid containing carbon dioxide in said body, a stem depending from said body, a downwardly converging collector surrounding said stem and supported below said body, a collar supported on said stem adjacent said body, said collar having a plurality of passages therethrough in communication with said first mentioned passage, a second collar surrounding said stem below said first mentioned collar, a frusto-conical surface on the upper part of said second collar, and a complementary diverging surface on the lower part of said first mentioned collar, said surfaces being spaced apart to define a narrow flow area therebetween and said downwardly converging collector having a frusto-conical inner surface extending substantially above the outlet of said flow area and being spaced slightly outwardly therefrom.

8. A draft arm nozzle comprising a body, a passage for liquid containing carbon dioxide in said body, a stem supported on said body, a downwardly converging collector surrounding said stem and supported by said body, a collar supported on said stem adjacent said body, an annular recess on the top of said collar in communication with said passage, a plurality of passages through said collar extending from said annular recess to the bottom thereof, a second collar surrounding said stem below said first mentioned collar, a frusto-conical surface on the upper part of said second collar, and a complementary diverging surface on the lower part of said first mentioned collar, said surfaces being spaced apart to define a narrow flow area therebetween having an entrance opening of less sectional area than the total flow area of said passages and said downwardly converging collector having a frustoconical inner surface extending substantially above the outlet of said fiow area and being spaced slightly outwardly therefrom.

9. In a nozzle the combination including a stem, a collar received on said stem, a passage for fluid extending through said collar, a spray guide received on said stem slightly spaced from said collar, the space between the two forming a second passage which extends downwardly and outwardly from the first mentioned passage, said second passage defining a frusto-conical surface, and a collector having a frusto-comcal inner wall surrounding said stem and passage, the end of said passage being below the top of said wall and spaced inwardly therefrom.

LEWIS E. MENDONCA.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 15 Number Name Date Clark Dec. 12, 1871 Wilkins Oct. 4, 1887 Allen May 13, 1930 Brown Apr. 24, 1934 Brown Nov. 14, 1939 Rehse July 16, 1940 Carlton Nov. 20, 1945 Carlton Nov. 20, 1945 Di Pietro June 11, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain of 1896 

